The Gamer's Quarter

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M-vnmejwXo&fmt=
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject:

that was neat!

dhex · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:01 am Post subject:

http://hugoschwyzer.net/2008/09/11/escape-entitlement-and-empowerment-young-men-and-the-four-ps/

as always, ignore the comments section.

i feel torn when academics write about games, not only because of my own fringe experiences and opinions but because i feel they run towards two equally silly poles - games as the vanguard of a new form of human expression or violent, escapist rape trainer.

the book's author, it seems, is far more on one end; on the other hand, games like gta are fairly violent. they are indeed murder simulators, if murder was largely an issue of pushing buttons. so what, then, do people get out of violence of this kind? i don't know, but i don't think it's quite as fanciful - or self-deluding - as it is portrayed, at least for most users. there's nothing "empowering" (tied with "spirituality" for terms that are both hopelessly vague and incredibly emotionally important) about games; perhaps the real issue is absorption. we don't necessarily have a good word in english for the state i'm describing, so absorption is it.

in the tgq piece i may never write, my central thesis is "childhood forms that aren't discarded grow up to be monsters" - though that might be better put as "reconciled" rather than "discarded." perhaps this guys' book would dovetail into that quite nicely.

but i do think the issue is, long story short, we all hypnotized ourselves as children, accidentally imprinting games in an early form of samadhi (again for lack of a better equivalent), since young children tend to have one of two mental states - completely engrossed or completely distracted. this samadhi state impressed upon people a kind of small taste of absorption into the whole (or "disappearing up your own ass" or whatever you want to call it) and the attempt to recapture that drives a small portion of the game playing to a frustration which cannot be reconciled in its current state. i saw this most obviously with a jon blow interview on gamasutra:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=16392

dhex · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:54 am Post subject:

on the other hand, the advertising blocks around ufc programming, for example (particularly the big brother house type show) reinforces the book's premise pretty heavily. beer, video games, cars, jeans, girls girls girls.
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dhex · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:31 am Post subject:

i know people like facebook and myspace and all but web 2.0 is a horror where ex-girlfriends track you down on linkedin and want to "network." on the one hand it's flattering because it means you literally rewired their brains with your dick but on the other hand they're ex for a reason. (because crazy stops being fun around the same time that being stoned constantly stops being fun. eventually you have to pay bills and not watch every word that comes out of your mouth.)
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dhex · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:38 am Post subject:

lehman goes down as the sacrificial lamb, it seems. aig is in line for a huge bailout.
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seryogin · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:36 pm Post subject:

[quote="dhex"] on the one hand it's flattering because it means you literally rewired their brains with your dick [quote]

I'm not getting this... Isn't that just a way to stay friendly? Note, I am all for rewiring people's brains with dicks, but how does it apply to this specific case?

Then again, my Russian MySpace page is filled with people I haven't seen since third grade. The last memory I have of a lot of these people is playing Double Dragon or Mega Man or Duck Tales on the Famicom in their Moscow apartments.
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Dracko · . Joined: 10 Oct 2005 Posts: 2613

http://devilskitchen.me.uk/2008/09/recession-porn.html

Barely human.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

dhex · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject:

dhex · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:15 am Post subject:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_167/5253-To-the-Front-Lines

the opening paragraph is succinct and tasty:

seryogin · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:41 am Post subject:

This is some kind of American thing.

They might as well write about "how gaming can make America stronger" or some shit.

A good sentence taste test for budding games bundits: replace "games" with "porn" and see if you don't feel like an idiot. (And don't tell me you can't make an argument about transcendent porn; I know from experience and can back this experience with links if need be).
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dhex · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:16 am Post subject:

word. though let's leave the porn links out of it.

in other news ioz fucking kills it right here:

http://whoisioz.blogspot.com/2008/09/grain-alcohol-and-rainwater.html

dhex · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject:

the most horrifying image of all time:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:31 am Post subject:

seryogin · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject:

Mike, does this ever happen to you? Some rowdy kids somehow take over the conductor's booth and start yelling shit? Such as,

"Next stop your mom's house, bitch?"
"Next stop, ' shut the fuck up,' we all gonna die, niggaz!"

This has happened a number of times on the 1 train (and only the 1 train, I think).
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dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:45 pm Post subject:

only a few times, back when i rode the j train.

i presume you don't find it as amusing as i do.
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seryogin · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:47 pm Post subject:

No, it's hilarious. I was wondering if it happened on other trains.
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dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject:

i would imagine it has happened on nearly every train since the mid 50s.
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject:

dhex · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:52 am Post subject:

we are so boned.
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dhex · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:48 am Post subject:

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/09/matt-yglesias-d.html
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dhex · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:19 am Post subject:

dhex · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:35 am Post subject:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/23/paul.bailout/index.html

not so crazy.
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dhex · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:10 am Post subject:

http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=8328

mr. carson is generally very interesting.
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dhex · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:23 pm Post subject:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202691.html?hpid=moreheadlines
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dhex · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:10 am Post subject:

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2008/09/23/answers-for-david-cay-johnston

this is a pretty good piece, actually.

i know i'm wrong to be heartened, but hearing people who aren't me say things like "why do we need to do this anyway?" was kind of nice yesterday.

if you find the right kind of other i guess all things are possible. now all i have to figure out is how to frame drug legalization as something that will hurt yuppies.
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dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:24 am Post subject:

http://pfds.opensecrets.org/092408.html

huh.
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kirkjerk · . Joined: 12 Apr 2006 Posts: 1227

dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:34 am Post subject:

i was more impressed by the way their names lined up, really.

dodd being chair of the banking committee and all that isn't actually as surprising. that's the whole point of being chair. that and banging interns, i would think.

mmm, interns.

dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:26 am Post subject:

http://reason.com/news/show/129005.html

the exchange he had with paulson is rather cute.
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dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 2:14 pm Post subject:

we should replace the internet with ioz instead:
http://whoisioz.blogspot.com/

Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Dhex, I'm writing lots and lots about voting, you might be interested. Gonna be a long series.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

seryogin · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 4:01 pm Post subject:

I'm sick of all this Putin trash-talking. That dude was not only -- objectively speaking -- the MAN OF 2007, but he's now, unofficially, the Pimp of the Year, 2008.

that's him looking down on you boyos!
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Scratchmonkey · . Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1439

I fail to see how that IOZ excerpt could be anything except complimentary.

dhex · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:42 pm Post subject:

it's basically a dream life , if you're prone to brutality and kicking ass.

edit: swimmy, that read pretty awesome thus far. i will pass it around to my sane libertizzles.
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:08 am Post subject:

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true&pli=1

stick figure mortgage crisis!
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:54 am Post subject:

sigh.

why do i sigh, you ask?

last week i got into a thing with one my younger co-workers about voting. it was a mild thing because i am relaxed and no longer get too insulted by the whole IF YOU DON'T VOTE YOU'RE KILLING JESUS because this is nyc and obama is handsome and has big ears and this appeals to young women. realities of the electoral college aside.

but not more than ten minutes ago she just asked me, seriously, if since her student loans were with wamu, since they got taken over does that mean her loans are forgiven.

she was serious.

SHE WAS FUCKING SERIOUS!

if you're going to get high and mighty about something like politics, it helps not to be a total fucking ass.

this has been a broadcast announcement from the abandon all hope ye who have to fucking live here department.
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:11 am Post subject:

man, i dunno why but the above is really fucking pissing me off.

oh yeah because it's insulting. and because she went to columbia.
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Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

I started the whole writing about voting thing because of a fight with my girlfriend. I caved and told her I would vote. I figure it doesn't matter at all to me and it does to her, so I may as well. But Lord knows I'm gonna write some big old thing about how stupid it is to get that upset over. Compromise!

Time to start part three.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:51 pm Post subject:

woman, thy name is compromise.

you do seem to be getting some good material out of it.

edit: in all seriousness, i do think it's somewhat shitty to push one's politics on people, even people you're in a relationship with. a few of my friends have been sucked into the chocolate jesus vortex but they're not being dicks about it. i figure if i can hang out with truthers than i can more or less handle anything that's not a dominionist christian or really into daniel pinchbeck.

but more to the original point, my wife believes it's very important to vote. i do not. but we do not hector each other, largely because i am stubborn. lord knows we can disagree enough on personal finance without having to drag politics into it.

oh lord i am but rightfully scared to look at my 401k right now.
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:11 pm Post subject:

hey sergei, what does this say? got the wife a mogwai shirt with that woman on it at the show last week.
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seryogin · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:27 pm Post subject:

The big text says, "Don't blabber." On the top there's a rhyme that says,

"Be alert,
These days the walls have ears,
It's not far from blabs and rumours
to treason."

It's from WWII, a counterpart to those US anti-spy posters, "loose lips, sink ships," etc.

You know, mike, can you explain why Obama dudes harrass me every day? New York would go to the Democrats if Saddam Hussein were running with Tarantino as a running mate. What's the point of campaigning for him here? What's the point of me, personally, voting?
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 1:30 pm Post subject:

VOTING IS THE HEALTH OF THE STATE

or something.

seriously, it's what volunteers do. you look young, therefore, there's a good chance that being in nyc you'd be liberal/democratic party oriented, or at least sympathetic.

speaking of sympathy:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wajahat-ali/the-economic-shock-an-int_b_128977.html

that's a lot of stupid to fit into one basket. but i do like how everyone's fixated on ceo compensation, as if that's the biggest fish we have to fry right now.

all politics is vengeance.
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dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject:

oh god she's at it again.

i swear to the zionist occupied government that the next person who says people who refuse to vote for either democrats or republicans is afraid of making "hard choices" is getting strangled. why can't they just be honest and say "i am mad because you don't agree with me!" and be done with it?

that'd at least be straightforward. god, do you people think i like the idea of voting for bob fucking barr?
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Swimmy · . Joined: 16 Sep 2005 Posts: 990 Location: Fairfax, VA

Ugh. That one's even worse than the "wasting your vote" idea. Median voter model, people!

Ok but seriously I'm gonna start writing more now. It's one of those things where I really just want to build up to Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, the meat of the matter, but everything on the way has to be set up too.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

dhex · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:32 pm Post subject:

rock!

work update: i just had to kill a fucking mouse stuck in a glue trap because sexism is rampant and mice are icky. i wish i could have done a release of some kind but without veggie oil and gloves and a place to release it...ugh.

man what a fucking day.
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mikerandells · . Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 1

Nice to know about your forum.some people are so crazy about games,by this forum they can find easily games.And in this forum its like the market of games.
=========================================
miker

Job Openings

Oops I was accidentally banned and had the spam link taken out of my post Sad

dhex · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:59 am Post subject:

isn't that the truth??!?!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!
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dhex · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:29 pm Post subject:

most wtf moment from last night: mccain's "reform the league of nations!" thing.

though obama's "i too have jewelry from dead people" rejoinder was close.
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dhex · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:45 pm Post subject:

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